Now that was a good episode. I enjoyed it from start to finish. I was so afraid they were just going to rehash the Ariel Castro case. They didn't, thank god. One of the few episodes this season I will watch again.

Overall, I liked this episode. I thought the subject matter was fascinating, and Virgil wrote a good episode. We knew from the spoilers how some of it would likely play out (e.g. Violet would have a child held at a separate location), but it was still an episode that focused more on psychology (of the victims in this case and not AS much as the perpetrator) than action (aside from Morgan's funny, exasperated comment when Tom was stupid enough to try and run away, only to be on the receiving end of some Chocolate Thunder justice),, and I can always support an episode like that. I thought there was a good balance of team and victims in this case, and there was very limited unsub. In fact, the vast majority of the scenes with victims and unsubs were with the team, which is how I prefer guest stars to be featured and not as much on their own. Outside of the viewers seeing the unsub in the first 10 minutes, we didn't really know more than the team and we discovered information at the time they did, which again is how I prefer the cases to go. I am glad Reid and JJ were used in the capacities they were by interfacing with the victims, since I think those two are very gentle with victims. It was also a good use of JJ in a non-ninja barbie capacity, which has been refreshingly minimal this season. Penelope was actually acting like a professional adult (can the writers please continue that), and she didn't just pluck information out of thin air, but it made sense how her computer came to the answers it did (e.g. the profiling the team did to determine the likely location of the other girls, or how the unsub was determined by using facial recognition software from the composite sketch). It was nice to see Hotch in a leader role, like he should be, and he was forceful when he needed to be with the unsub. I was glad there was the aside about the AUSA authorizing the deal (even though I would have been okay with Hotch lying about it to the unsub, since the FBI doesn't have the authority to make deals like that). It is those legal niceties that this show needs to emphasize more (like warrants and probable cause searches). I was not surprised at the ending in the slightest, since I called Sheila's mother killing Tom at the end, once I saw the way she looked at him for the first time.

Minor quibble, but I somehow doubt the hospital would allow Sheila's dead body to remain in the hospital bed as long as they did, but maybe not.

Like I said, I think this was a pretty good episode in its own right, and even more so when compared to the two mediocre episodes that preceded it.

I have to agree with Barbara and CMRT. I thought at the beginning it was going to be another early unsub episode, so I was ready to ignore the entire episode, then something just caught my attention, and I couldn't stop watching. Having the unsub where he was in the episode actually made sense with this episode. I was riveted after about the first ten minutes, and POW, the ending was a blockbuster. It shocked me off my computer, and I was sorry to see them cuff the mother. I felt she deserved her "statement".

The final scenes as shot were some of the best I've seen...the stained glass windows behind the statute of Jesus, the unsub on the floor with blood slowly seeping from hiw body, the mother's almost perfect shot in the chest, the look on the mother's face as she looked at the team almost as if in defiance, but you could see the pain in her eyes for what had been taken away from her, and as Barbara said...JUST WOW!!!

I too wished the Mom wasn't arrested...BUT on the good side of that...that is procedure... Would she be convicted probably not.. but they had to do their job and arrest her for firing a gun and killing someone in their custody! I think Virgil stayed true to fact and truth regarding police work and procedure so I'm ok... :)

Yeah, I must say this was an OUTSTANDING episode! A colossal improvement for Virgil; this one blew his past two episodes out of the water! He really brought his A game to this script, and for the crime buffs out there, he studied the Ariel Castro/Michelle Knight/Amanda Berry/Gina DeJesus case EXTENSIVELY! Everything from the puppy to the brutal details of the miscarriages, and with the wonders of creative license, took this story to a whole other level!

I'm sure the three aforementioned girls would be proud that this case was brought to such a popular show so as to show where police could've gone wrong, what they did right, and most importantly to ensure that no innocent girl ever has to endure this ever again. I must agree with CMRT and Barbara, to an extent regarding the mother; I was extremely shocked when the shot was fired! That was such an amazing, poetic ending to a stunning episode of good old fashioned Criminal Minds!

Virgil Williams and Bethany Rooney make a great team! I'm glad we didn't see any torture taking place.. at least, physical... there was plenty of psychological torture shown which would require one to be a sociopath not to feel these girls' pain.. But back to my point, unlike the previous two episodes, the gore was left to the imagination of the viewers, and as we know from previous seasons, that can make for the scariest of imagery...

This episode was a masterpiece, and I'm proud to be a CM fan tonight! As was previously said, everyone was in perfect character; sassy but to-the-point Rossi, Hotch in complete control, Garcia being quirky but appropriately professional and without any magic computer tricks, Morgan saying to the unsub "I'm sorry, am I hurting you?" before tightening the cuffs, which was beautiful, and probably that which brought the best acting of tonight, JJ & Reid being so gentle and empathetic with the victims, while still using split-second profiling skills. Absolutely amazing. Also another shoutout is due for the strict adherence to police procedure. Well done!

This was a 9.95/10 for me, the only time I sat on my couch was during the commercials. PLEASE keep the episodes like this, wherein we learn from the team and not the unsub. (btw, Hotch was staring machine guns through that bastard's eyes lol) I think I'm speaking for more than just myself when I say LONG LIVE CRIMINAL MINDS!!!

Michael Thompson did not have a twin brother named Pichael. O/10 worst episode ever.Seriously though, Virgil Williams has to be the most up-and-down writer on the show. On one hand, he's written claptrap like Outlaw and Protection, and on the other hand, he's capable of writing episodes like Lockdown and this, which could very well be some of the best episodes of the season. This could be applicable towards other writers, but it's the most evident with Williams.This episode was...wow. Massive credit has to be given to the actresses that played Gina and Amelia. They stole the show.And then there was that ending...honestly, is it bad that I totally forgot about Sheila's mother at that point? Because I was just about ready to write Thompson as the exception to the rules of "Everyone with a revealed middle name dies" and "Everyone named Michael dies."I'd give it a 9/10.

Well that was good. See, it is possible to see the unsub up front and still have a riveting and suspenseful episode with a shock ending - so why can't they do that every time? The guest cast were all great and there was a good spread of team - this one was memorable and one to watch again. Definitely one of the two great episodes this season.

For the first time in a long, long time, I was not able to watch this episode live due to a prior commitment. My 7 YO nephew summed it up best. "Yeah, we all gotta go get our foreheads dirty." ;)

When I got home, I fired up my good ol' VCR and watched the ep. While I enjoyed it, one thing kept running through my greying grey matter. "Where have I seen this guy before?" Aka, the unsub. After I finished, a quick check at iMDB provided the answer. He was one of the CPD detectives in the movie "The Fugitive." Problem solved. I can concentrate on re-watching. So I could sit down with my laptop and headphones and enjoy my re-watch at CBS online. I'll join Barb. WOW!

Virgil "Big Dog" Williams wrote a masterful script. I started out not liking the focus on the victims and seeing the unsub so early. But Virgil weaved one helluva story that blended the case with our team doing their job. And I know I'm in the minority around here, but I love kick-ass JJ. That said, I love this side of JJ as well that Virgil featured. The maternal, caring side. It was good to see that. Hotch, my fearless leader was totally in character, along with Rossi and his usual snark. Reid was great as well with his gentle nature. And like my friend SCMA pointed out, the line from Morgan when Tom/Michael started to run was classic Derek. And Garcia just did her job with what the team fed her for info. Major Rockie positive points.

As many others have pointed out, the guest cast was just simply superb. From top to bottom. I agree with Timothy: the actresses that portrayed Gina and Amelia were wonderful. So were Amelia's parents and Sheila's mother.

That leads me into Bethany Rooney's direction. She was part of the decision group that hired all the guest cast. Then add in her visual shots. Two left me shaking my head at how awesome they were. The first was when Hotch and Rossi came around the corner with Tom/Michael in final act. TG and JM's reaction were spot on; true to their characters; in a split second they saw the danger and instantly went to draw their weapons. But it was too late. Good for Sheil's mom and kudo's for Big Dog writing that. The TG voiceover of the quote at the end tied that in. The second was one that SouthunLady caught. The shot of the stain glassed windows and the statue. Brilliance!

This episode was a "total" team win. And by team, I mean the WHOLE team. It started with Virgil's outstanding writing (so good to see my Big Dog back on track). My fav cast came through with outstanding performances. The guest cast rocked. Yet, it takes a team effort from all of the wonderful, fantastic behind the scenes peeps of the best d*mn crew filming TV eps. And Bethany Rooney brought it all home in amazing fashion.

* Who is this new Garcia and can she stay a while.* Um, Hotch, we knew Lewis wasn't there.* Young women actors were excellent.* Glad that torture was not shown.* TG elevates a striped shirt to a work of art.* AJ was excellent, as was Reid, but top heavy JJ screen time. Please share the wealth. And beauty. * Quibble: needed professional in room with family re-introduction especially since psych evaluation had not been completed.* Some songs unnecessarily become their own sub-plot at the end.* The cushy deal emphasized my delight of Mom blasting unsub, dropping gun and raising her hands.

There was a lot to like about this one, all largely due the fact that it was all about ‘minds’, criminal and otherwise. Virgil Williams gave us a great example of what can happen when one puts forth inquisitive writing---kudos to him.

He took a well-known case, and then showed, but didn’t dwell on, the horror aspects of it. Instead he asked questions: What happened after? What was it like for them? For the families? What if any of those women had brought a baby to term and he kept it? And then he explored the answers to each of them.

The acting was spot-on, across the board. In my opinion, that was due to a combination of the talents of the actors and the fact that they were given good, cerebral material to work with.

The team was used well. It made sense that JJ took the lead on interacting with the traumatized young women, Hotch was in rare form with the sociopathic unsub, Garcia was toned down, it passed the Reid-meter.

Things I truly loved: The whole episode was good, in the classic style of CM. It moved away from action/adventure and back to the show’s roots. The ending took me by surprise, and I can’t remember the last time that’s happened with CM. And then there was this line, from Morgan: “Ah, you gotta be kidding me, this guy.” Priceless.

Loved this episode. One of the worst/sickest with regard to what happened to these poor girls - scars, injuries that did not heal correctly, after seeing the torture room and blood, nothing else needed to be said. Rossi and Morgan just looked at each other, and we the audience knew as well what had happened. Loved the Morgan line about having to run after that POS. That unsub really made me hate him - thought the actor did a great job in portraying SUCH a hateful sarcastic ass - I am still fuming. ;) I would have loved to see Hotch take him out back somewhere and "educate" him with a few punches. ;) Loved JJ - perfect. Garcia - perfect. Glad there was there was not too much Reid/less Reid as they always seem to stick him with talking to the victims who are psychologically unstable. Loved the religious shots. Did not buy the scene where they walked the unsub right by the parents, almost like "this is the guy - we're not telling you what to do...but fyi, this is him..." - unrealistic and you knew what was going to happen. Didn't buy Violet snapping out of her relationship with Daddy so soon. Violet describing the birth of her 2 girls and not knowing what was going on - oh, so sickening and sad - a cringeworthy classic and appropriate CM shocker I wish the unsub had not been shot at the end - too easy of a way out. I wished we saw an end scene where he was in prison and we see him get what was coming to him. I think that's why I loved the episode - it really got me really emotionally invested - a big success.

Congratulations, Virgil. You took a true crime story so full of squick and made it watchable and even fascinating. What could have been an overload of screaming females and mugging male unsubs was actually turned into two very interesting character studies of young women who stayed strong in the midst of the worst imaginable treatment.

You also had Garcia acting like an adult, one who is focused and efficient at her difficult job, at that. Please, other CM writers, can we have some more of this Garcia? JJ was the lead on this for very good reasons, but you didn't turn everyone else into uncaring robots in the process. The on-call doctor was very good, and i thought the parents were OK.

There were a few things others have mentioned about the way the interviews were held and the parents were allowed to come in when they probably wouldn't (or shouldn't) have been, but this is forgivable. Well, balanced, well paced, nice team for the most part.

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WHO WE ARE

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Criminal Minds Round Table. When we were positing names for this blog, and Sir Bedivere suggested Criminal Minds Round Table, we knew immediately that was the perfect name for our blog.

It fit in so many ways.

Many fans, and Ed Bernero (Criminal Minds' former Showrunner and Executive Producer) himself, compare the show and its characters to The Arthurian Legend and the Knights of the Round Table. Mr. Bernero even went so far as to say that he knew that the stories had to be “Arthurian” to appeal to the most people. The team meets to brief cases at a round table, and there are many parallels between our BAU team and the Knights and other Arthurian characters.

In addition, a Round Table discussion is what we want to have here about any and all topics Criminal Minds-related. In a Round Table discussion, each participant has equal status and equal time to present views. And finally, since this is going to be a group effort amongst a group of Criminal Minds fans, we are going to take turns around the table, with each of us posting about the show, our favorite characters and our favorite actors on the show.